Sri Lankan Army suffers first casualty after defeating Tigers

A Sri Lankan soldier was shot dead by an alleged LTTE cadre in an eastern district of the country, causing the first military loss of life in the force since the crushing defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May.

A soldier was killed by a boatman, who was stopped for a search by troops in the eastern district of Batticaloa on Saturday.

The man, who turned out to be a Tiger leader in the area, grabbed the gun of the soldier and killed him, the armysaid on Sunday.

The boatman was, however, but he was overpowered by two other soldiers.

The military has killed over a dozen rebels since the killing of Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and his outfit's leadership in mid-May, but yesterday's loss was the first fatality suffered by troops since the defeat of theTigers.

The army said a major search was launched in the area to look for any more remnants of the defeated rebel movement.